Elevator divider



July 2l, 1953 c. H. NEER 2,646,156

ELEVATOR DIVIDER Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet l.CV/ffard H Neer July 21, 1953 c, H, NEER 2,646,156

ELEVATOR DIVIDER Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 C/If/OYCH. Neer July 21,- 1953 c. H. NEER 2,646,156

ELEVATOR DIVIDER Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 '7 Sheets-Sheet 3Elmo/whom c/ /fford H, Nee? mw wy 1953 c. H. NEER 2,646,156

ELEVATOR DIVIDER Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5CV/f/orcZH Nee? July 21, 1953 c. H. NEER ELEVATOR DIVIDER '7Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 y 21, 9 3 c. H. NEER2,646,156

I ELEVATOR DIVIDER Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 ISOC/ff/ord 'Neer may Patented July 21, 1953 Machine Company, Inc.,Baltimore, Md., a cornotation of Maryland Original application September24, 1945 Serial No. 618,278. Divided and this application August 2,1948, Serial N0. 42,040

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a case filling machine, particularly to amachine for'filling cases or cartons with cans that have previously beenfilled and labeled and in preparation for storage or shipment. Suchmachines are composed of a plurality of ways or tracks over which thecans roll, and they are taken from a single rolling line andarrangedinto a plurality of rolling lines, side by side and in tiers sothat they may be placed in cases or cartons of varying sizes. One objectof this invention is to arrange the cans from a single line into thesemultiple parallel lines.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid forceful movement ofthe cans on their ways or moving mechanism that may crush or otherwiseinjure or deform the cans.

Another object of the invention is to make a machine that may be adaptedto fill cases with several tiers oiv or one layer only, and the elementsof whichmay he adapted to machines for easing any desired number oflayers of cans;

or any desired number of cans in the rows of each layer.

Another object of the invention is to make a machine that will operatequietly, and with a minimum of supervision and from which cans that maybecome out of line may he quickly removed without interfering with thecomplete case charge and assembly.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange the timing of thedilierent operations that there will be the least possible lost time oraction between those operations, and so that if for any reason thesupply of cans to the machine were delayed, the line dividing meanswould he stopped, and yet which will permit any full case loads in themagazine of the machine to be cased.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the cans in the magazineor section of the machine just prior to their passage to the casingsection evenly, rather than filling one of the section ways and thenanother.

This application is a division of the application I filed September 24,1945, Serial No. 618,278, Patent No. 2,559,655, July'lO, 1951, directedto the case filling part of the machine.

which are superimposed at their upper ends which are connected to theelevator-divider and the elevator-divider discharges the cans, eachalternate can going to one of the respective runways. These runways arealso inclined downwardly and they diverge outwardly from one another sothat at their delivery ends they are no longer superimposed but theyrather deliver two rows of cans abreast of one another. These two rowsof cans are then dropped into the boot of a second elevator-dividerhaving again a single elevator but with two tracks or sets of guides, orsections, each section receiving cans from one of preceding runways.This elevator then raises the two lines of canaagain substantiallyvertically and two groups or tiers of three superimrunways each isattached to the delivery side of this elevator-conveyor, one tier foreach section and the cans discharged from the clevatcr"onveyor so thatall the cans of each section go to one tier of runways and every thirdcan goes tothe same receiving runway of that tier. There are two groupsor tiers of these superimposed ways, so that each group receives threerows of superimposed cans and the cans are arranged as they leave thiselevator three deep and two abreast as they roll down the runways. Fromthese runways the cans are delivered to acasing apparatus described inthe above identified copen'ding application. 7 The instant machine isalso designed so that it may be operated to produce a single layer ofcans for each carton in which case only half of the secondelevator-divider would be utilized.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the infeed end of the machine, showingthe first elevator-divider.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the can runway switch actuating shelf.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the infeed switch.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the second elevator-divider, being acontinuation to theleft of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the rear end of the machine, being acontinuation from'the left 7 similar parts 5 and having an angle bracket1 on each side to' limit its vertical swing. Mercoid switch 8 which isopen when no cans are on the runway, is operated by the swinging shelf 5through pivoted angular member 9 to close the switch when a line of cansaccumulates in the runway [*and up to the swinging shelf 5. Theelevator-dividers of the machine do not operate until this switch isclosed. The weight required to tilt the switch 8 may be varied byadjustment of the weight It on the bar 1 I attached to the member 9.

The runways I feed the cans into the boot 12 of the firstelevator-divider d which consists of endless chains 13 having flights orbars M thereon. The cans entering the boot fall between two flights. Asthe cans enter the boot 52 they ride between guides H and are pulledaround and up by the flights it and then the cans ride between the flihts 64 and upon the guides 55, the cans being slightly overbalancedtoward the guides it. As shown in Figure 10, this overbalance is about17 from the vertical. The guides 16 at the top are turned upwardly andoutwardly as at I? to guide or push the cans off the conveyor flightsE4.

Toward the top of the elevator-divider i are two runways i8 and i9 andthe curved part H" of the guides 16 would force all cans to runway l3were not other provision made. Immediately opposite the opening ofrunway I9 is a shaft 28 having pushers 2! thereon. These pushers rotatewith the shaft 29.

The conveyor chains it ride over upper sprockets 22 and around lowersprockets 23 which sprockets are on shafts 24 and 25 respectivelymounted in the frame of the elevator-divider d. This frame is supportedon rails 28 of the machine and these rails are in turn supported byframes 2?. The conveyor chains l3 have slack take up sprockets 28-29,the latter being adiustable. A motor 36 furnishes power through speedvarying pulleys 3i and belt 32 driving pulley 3; fast on shaft 315 whichin turn drives slip pulley 35 and pulley 36 fast to shaft 2t throughmeans of belt 8?. Shaft 24! is driven from sprocket 38 on shaft 26 bychain 39 and sprocket M) on shaft 25. Belt 32 on speed varying pulley 3!may be tightened or loosened by pulley ll on arm s2 fast to hand lever13 which may be fixed in position on bracket i l. The sections of pulleyiii are urged together by spring means. Handwheel 35 on shaft 3d may beused to move the chains l3 small distances;

The flights hi are so placed upon the conveyor chains l3 and the ratioof the sprockets is such that the pusher shaft 29 on which the pushers2i are fixed rotate them once, or one revolution, with the passage ofevery other flight of the chains 13 so that in the machine shown everyother can in the elevator-divider will be discharged on shelf 58 and theremaining can on the conveyor passes to the top of the guides i8 and ispushed by the inclined portion [1 of the guide It onto the shelf orrunway [8. The pushers 25 at their outwardly extending ends pass throughopenings '36 in the guides 16.

As best shown in Figure 10, illustrating a portion of the secondelevator-divider, the action of the conveyor flight is to slide the canup the guide, and the flrst contact of the pusher is to unbalance thecan, to roll it forward, off the flight, and the can tilts forward tothe runway, and as it becomes overbalanced outwardly, the

continued upward movement of the flight further 'overbalances it, sothat both the flight and the pusher force the can to the runway downwhich it rolls.

This elevator-divider 4 divides the group of cans received as a singleline into two lines, initially superimposed and the elevator-divider Ahas its motor connected with the switching mechanism 8 so that theelevator-divider is operated only when the initial runways I are full ofcans, at least as far from the elevator-divider 5 as the pivoted shelf5. When cans are lacking on this pivoted shelf 5 the elevator-dividerconveyor operation is stopped. It will be noted that the drive for theconveyor of the elevator-divider being non-positive because of theslipping driv ng pulley 35, the conveyor will not crush the cans if byany chance they should be misplaced.

The runways i8 and 19 have side members 37 which are pivoted at one endat 48 and are fastened at the other end with thumbscrews 39 so that theside members 47 could be quickly opened and an unsuitable can removed bythe operator without disturbing the other cans in the runway. Therunways i3 and i9 fork outwardly at their lower delivery ends as shownin Figure 9, so that they enter the second elevator-divider 56 shownbest in Figures 4 and 8 substantially abreast by means of guides 5l52and 5354.

The second elevator-divider 58, mounted on rails has in it chainstiiriding on upper and lower sprockets 5t and 57 respectively, thesesprockets being on shafts 53 and 59 respectively and shaft 58 is drivenby sprocket 50 fast thereon and chain 6i from sprocket 62 on shaft 24 ofthe first elevator-divider The chains have on them flights 63.

Guides 5i-52 and 5354 drop the cans between the flights 63 in the lowerpart or boot of the elevator-divider 5B, in two rows, each of which isguided in its entrance by guides 6d and G5 and between which the canspass on their entrance to the flights. As the cans pass around thebottom of the elevator-divider 5G, in two rows, they are lifted byflights 63 into two sets of guides, 66 and El.

The flights 63 on the chains 55 are slightly over twice the height ofthe cans in length so that they carry the two rows of cans abreast intheir movements. This is best shown in Figure 8.

The chains 55 likewise have slack take-up sprockets 68 and t9, thelatter being adjustable.

Adjacent elevator-divider 513, and supported thereon at their upper endsare two horizontally spaced groups of three shelves or inclined runwaysEfi, H and "32. These are inclined downwardly away from theelevator-divider 5t. Elevator-divider 59 has the two sets of guides and61 against which the cans ride in overbalanced position when carriedupwardly by the flights 63, see Figure 10. Toward the top the guides aredirected outwardly as at 13, so that when acan reaches the top of theguides it is pushed from the flights 63 to the top runway 10.

'82, 33, 3t and 85 thereon.

from sprockets I16 and I'll.

' 'l-heguides 56 and (i7 curved at their tops I3,

actupon the cans to overbalance them outwardly, at which time theflights 63 aid in their further removal from the conveyor to therunways.

Below shaft 58 are shafts 'M and I5 having sprockets I6 and -'II thereonconnected by chain It and shaft M- has sprocket I9 thereon connected bychain 52! with sprocket 8| on shaft 58 from which the two other shaftsI4 and I5 are driven; Shafts is andlii have sets of pushers Guides 66and 67 have openings 86 therein for the passage of the extending,ends-31 of the pushers therethrough. Again the spacing of the flights 63on chains 55 and the relation of the size of the sprockets is suchthatevery third can in each vertical set of runways is moved by a pusherM or 85 ,to one of the runways I2 and two adjacent cans, above thosedischarged on runways I2 are discharged to runways II and two'cans, onthe flights t3 riding above the four previously discharged reach theupper part of the guides 6t and- El and are pushed from the guides bythe sloping portion 73 onto the two runways I3. By this action six cans,two abreast and three deep are rolled from the elevator-divider 50 withevery complete rotation of the shafts I4 and I5.

The runways llili and "I2, each numeral re ferring to two runwaysabreast arefixed at their lower ends to uprights 88 on rails 26 anddeliver the rolling cans from the magazine formed by these runways tothe loading space indicated generally at cs. Thelength of these runways,of the magazinesection, is such as to hold substantially two charges forthe loading space and the upper end of one runway H has a pivoted bottomsection it which operates a Mercoid switch 3! to shut off bothelevator-dividers t and 59 when the magazine is full. The bottom 98 ofthe runway is counterbalanced by counterweight 92 so that the switch maybe made to opcrate when precisely the right weight is upon the lowerrunway i2 and the machine thusfar described operates continuously tofill the magazine when cans are on the initial runway I and it stopsoperating when the magazine is full.

The loading space 89 is fully described in the abovev designatedcopending application.

- Asshown in Figures 6 and 8, sprockets 60 and t2 and chain 6! areenclosed in a housing I'II, fast to a panel I72 passing betweenelevatordividers d and 5B. I

' At times it isdesirable to operate the machine to fill a carton withone layer of cans, and the from elevator-divider 4 by the curved top ofguides It, and pass to the upper runway I8.

Figure 11 shows an alternate form of drive for elevator-divider 56,which may be installed originally if desired. In this drive,a panel I14connects elevator-dividers ti and 50, and shaft 24 is elongated, asshown at I15, and has on it two sprockets, Ilfi and ill. Likewise shaft58 is extended, with a section H8, on which are mounted two clutchsections I19 and I80, to freely rotate thereon. These sections both havesprockets integral therewith, driven by chains IBI and I82 Collars I83and I84, and I85 and I86 maintain the longitudinal positions of clutchmembers I80 and I19 on the shaft I78. Shaft I'IB has splined thereonclutch I81, which has pins I88 therein projecting on each side, thesepins being adapted to be placed in holes I89 in either clutch member I19or I80.

When elevator-divider 4 is feeding to both runways, I8 and 59, theclutch I3! is set to operate clutch member I19. When only runway I8 isfed, clutch I87 is set to operate clutch member I80; this doubles thespeed of elevator divider 50, but, of course, the delivery capacity ofthe machine is cut in half, because only single layers of cans aredelivered to the loading space 89. A housing E90 covers the drivemechanism just described and clutch I8! is held in its longitudinalposition on shaft section I18 by set screw I9 I, to which access may behad through opening I82 in housing I90.

ivlany modifications and changes of proportion and design maybe made inthe illustrative form of the structure described and shown in thedrawings without departing from the invention.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by LettersiPatentis:

1. In a can arranging machine, a plurality of inclined ways for therolling of cans thereon. superimposed at their upper ends, a distributoradjacent the said upper ends of said ways, means to feed a continuousline of cans to said dis tributcr, said distributor comprising guides, apower driven conveyor having flights thereon, each flight receiving acan from said means, said conveyor cooperating with said guides carryinga canto adjacent the upper ends of each of said ways and means in saiddistributor to periodically discharge adjacent cans from said conveyorto diiferent ones of said inclined ways, certain of said discharge meanscomprising a continuously rotating pusher timed to contact and push itsrespective can from said conveyor to the adjacent inclined way.

2. In a can arranging machine, a plurality of inclined ways for therolling of cans thereon superimposed at their upper ends, a distributoradjacent the said upper ends of said ways, means to feed, a continuousline of cans to said distributor, said distributor comprisingacontinuously driven conveyor means adjacent the face of the upper endsof said ways, said conveyor means having flights thereon, each flightreceiving a can from said feed means and continuously carrying the cansto discharge position, one adjacent each of said ways, means to push onecan from the conveyor to one of said ways and continuously operatingrotary pushing means to periodically push the adjacent can to another ofsaid ways.

3. In a can arranging machine, a plurality of inclined ways for therolling of cans thereon superimposed at their upper ends, a distributoradjacent the said upper ends of said ways, means to feed a continuousline of cans to said distributor, said distributor comprising acontinuously driven endless conveyor having flights therein, saidfeeding means feeding a can to each flight, said conveyor carrying avertical row of cans to the upper ends of said ways, one in front ofeach way, and means to periodically discharge adjacent cans to theirrespective adjacent different ways, certain of said last named meanscomprising a continuously rotating pusher timed to contact and push itsrespective can from the conveyor to the adjacent inclined way.

4. In a can arranging machine, a plurality of inclined ways for therolling of cans thereon, superimposed at their upper ends, a distributoradjacent the said upper ends of said ways, means to feed a continuousline of cans to said distributor, said distributor comprising an endlessconveyor having flights therein, said feeding means feeding a can toeach flight, said conveyor carrying a vertical row of cans to the upperends of said ways, one in front of each way and guides pushing certainof said cans from the conveyor to one way and continuously rotatingpower driven means to contact and pushing other of said cans to other ofsaid ways.

5. A rolling can line separator comprising a power driven conveyor,means to feed a continuous line of rolling cans to the conveyor, aplurality of inclined ways for the rolling of cans thereon superimposedat their upper ends, the upper end of each way being adjacent saidconveyor, said conveyor carrying a continuous line of cans opposite theupper ends of each way and separate means to push each adjacent can fromthe conveyor to different ways, certain of said separate meanscomprising a continuously rotating pusher timed to contact and push itsrespective can from said conveyor to the adjacent inclined way.

6. A rolling can line separator comprising a power driven conveyor,means to feed a continuous line of rolling cans to the conveyor, aplurality of inclined ways for the rolling of cans thereon superimposedat their upper ends, the upper end of each way being adjacent saidconveyor, said conveyor carrying a continuous line of cans opposite theupper ends of each way and separate means to push each adjacent can fromthe conveyor to different ways, certain'of said separate meanscomprising a continuously rotating pusher timed to contact and push itsrespective can from said conveyor to the adjacent inclined way, meanscontrolled by said feeding means to stop the conveyor in the absence ofa continuous line of cans in said feeding means.

7. A rolling can line separator comprising a power driven conveyor,means to feed a continuous line of rolling cans to the conveyor, aplurality of inclined ways for the rolling of cans thereon superimposedat their upper ends, the upper end of each way being adjacent saidconveyor, said conveyor carrying a continuous line of cans opposite theupper ends of each way, one in front of each way, a guide to pushcertain of said cans to one of said ways and continuously rotating powerdriven means to contact and push other of said cans to other of saidways from the conveyor.

8. A rolling can arranger comprising a power driven conveyor, means tofeed a continuous line of rolling cans to the conveyor, a plurality ofinclined ways for the rolling of cans thereon, the upper end of each waybeing superimposed over the next lower way and being adjacent saidconveyor, said conveyor carrying a continuous line of cans opposite theupper end of each way and means to push each adjacent can from theconveyor to different ways, each of said ways diverging horizontallyfrom each of the others at their lower ends and a sectioned power drivenconveyor one section receiving the cans from each of said ways, aplurality of groups of superimposed inclined ways for the rolling ofcans thereon the upper end of each said way of one group being adjacentone section of said last named conveyor, each section of said last namedconveyor carrying a continuous line of cans opposite the upper end ofeach of said superimposed ways of each group and means to push eachvertically adjacent can from its conveyor section to differentvertically superimposed ways of the respective group.

9. A can arranging machine, a plurality of inclined ways for the rollingof cans thereon superimposed at their upper ends, a distributor adjacentthe said upper ends of said ways, means to feed a continuous line ofcans to said distributor, said distributor comprising guides, a powerdriven conveyor having flights thereon, a boot within which saidconveyor operates, said boot guiding a can from said feed means to spaceone can between each pair of adjacent conveyor flights, said conveyorbeing spaced from said guides to overbalance the cans toward the guides,said conveyor cooperating with the guides to carry, a can to adjacentthe upper ends of each of said ways, means in said distributor toperiodically discharge adjacent cans from said conveyor to differentones of said inclined ways, certain of said discharge means comprising acontinuously rotating pusher timed to overbalance its respective canfrom the conveyor and urge it to the adjacent inclined way.

CLIFFORD H. NEER.

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